ID :
17686
Mon, 09/01/2008 - 15:16
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/17686
The shortlink copeid
HUNDREDS OF INDONESIANS LEAVE NEW ORLEANS TO ESCAPE HURRICANE GUSTAV
New York, Aug 31 (ANTARA) - Hundreds of Indonesian nationals in New Orleans are reported to have fled the southern United States city as Hurricane Gustav is predicted to pound the Louisiana coast this week, Indonesian consul general in Houston Kria Fahmi Pasaribu told ANTARA here on Sunday.
He said the Indonesian nationals were among thousands of people who had been streaming out of the US city to find temporary refuge in other areas such as Houston, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and North Carolina since Saturday.
"Some of the Indonesians did not leave Louisiana but are taking refuge in safer parts of the state," Fahmi said, adding that his residence and those of other consulate general personnel had been made ready to accommodate Indonesian refugees from New Orleans.
Fahmi said in the evacuation process for the Indonesian nationals from New Orleans, he had coordinated with New Orleans-based Indonesian-American Community Association chairperson Fitri Sudrajat.
According to Reuters, more than 11.5 million residents in five US states could feel the impact of the fast-moving storm which was already looming as an issue in the hotly contested presidential election because of the botched response to Katrina's chaos almost exactly three years ago.
By Sunday night, the streets of New Orleans were ghostly
quiet after some 95 percent of the city's population responded
to desperate calls by officials for a sweeping evacuation.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was quoted by Reuters as saying that an estimated 1.9 million people had fled coastal areas. Only 10,000 people were believed to have stayed behind in New Orleans.
Police and national guard troops patrolled the empty city
in Humvees as a curfew went into effect in an attempt to
prevent looting.
Long lines of cars and buses streamed out of New Orleans
after Mayor Ray Nagin ordered an evacuation of the city of
239,000 and told residents, "This is still a big, ugly storm,
still strong and I encourage everyone to leave."
The US National Hurricane Center said Gustav was on track
to hit the Gulf Coast near Houma, Louisiana -- west of New
Orleans -- on Monday morning.
He said the Indonesian nationals were among thousands of people who had been streaming out of the US city to find temporary refuge in other areas such as Houston, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and North Carolina since Saturday.
"Some of the Indonesians did not leave Louisiana but are taking refuge in safer parts of the state," Fahmi said, adding that his residence and those of other consulate general personnel had been made ready to accommodate Indonesian refugees from New Orleans.
Fahmi said in the evacuation process for the Indonesian nationals from New Orleans, he had coordinated with New Orleans-based Indonesian-American Community Association chairperson Fitri Sudrajat.
According to Reuters, more than 11.5 million residents in five US states could feel the impact of the fast-moving storm which was already looming as an issue in the hotly contested presidential election because of the botched response to Katrina's chaos almost exactly three years ago.
By Sunday night, the streets of New Orleans were ghostly
quiet after some 95 percent of the city's population responded
to desperate calls by officials for a sweeping evacuation.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was quoted by Reuters as saying that an estimated 1.9 million people had fled coastal areas. Only 10,000 people were believed to have stayed behind in New Orleans.
Police and national guard troops patrolled the empty city
in Humvees as a curfew went into effect in an attempt to
prevent looting.
Long lines of cars and buses streamed out of New Orleans
after Mayor Ray Nagin ordered an evacuation of the city of
239,000 and told residents, "This is still a big, ugly storm,
still strong and I encourage everyone to leave."
The US National Hurricane Center said Gustav was on track
to hit the Gulf Coast near Houma, Louisiana -- west of New
Orleans -- on Monday morning.
